Sense of Wonder

I received my copy of Sense of Wonder: A Century of Science Fiction yesterday. I really do have a sense of wonder as I ponder what it has managed to do, bringing together actual science fiction stories and critical essays on a range of topics and issues from a range of perspectives, in a massive volume that is almost a thousand pages in length, with really small print and really narrow margins in a significantly oversized book. What the editor, Leigh Grossman, has managed to include in a single volume really is impressive.

My own contribution is an essay on religion and science fiction. There are too many other essays to even offer a representative list. But fortunately, I don’t have to. There is a web site for the book, which includes the table of contents and samples. The latter includes the appendices, among which are the list of stories, essays and poems in the volume. If you click through, you will see that they cover major topics, themes, trends, the sci-fi of particular countries and eras, and even advice on writing sci-fi. And this is alongside the majority of the book, which is actual science fiction stories, each of which is introduced with a short biography about the author.

There are also quotes about the volume on the web site, the best of which comes from sci-fi author Kit Reed:

“…so big that if you dropped it, it would kill your dog.” —Kit Reed